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Deut: 30:19-20: See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Gal: 3:13-14: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

(From that passage one would assume that when we choose Jesus, we choose life and are therefore free of curses, yet we hear good preachers telling us we can bring curses upon ourselves by foolish practices.

Both thoughts are true and here is the explanation: When one chooses Jesus, they are choosing life and are immediately born again of the eternal life Spirit. Then, being spiritually alive, they are free to make righteous choices. All they have to do is seek to please God and walk by the spirit, no longer seeking to please the lower nature. (Rom. 8:1-15) That’s how you get and stay free from the curse of the law–abide in Christ.)

Jn: 15:5-10: teaches us about abiding. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

(So you see that we must deliberately determine to abide in the vine. Why? Because there is a thief who is always going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1Pet: 5:6-9

Once you’ve chosen Jesus, you must choose daily to walk by the spirit and not by the carnal nature. You choose whether you will put on the full armor of God. You choose whether you will abide in the vine, firmly united. You choose whether you will take up your cross and follow Jesus. You choose whether you will serve God or your own appetites.

When God gave you the free gift of righteousness, he did not take away the power to choose death; he gave you the power to choose life. If you abide in Jesus, you are free from all curses–but if you choose to live carnally, you are not, taking advantage of your gift from God and you forfeit the blessings and live under the curses, because they are the inevitable result of making wrong choices.)

Lucifer was the guardian cherub of the whole earth, but he made the wrong choice and was demoted to a doomed evil being.

Adam was anointed by God to have dominion over the earth, but he made a wrong choice and was demoted to a mere man.

Eve was anointed to help Adam take care of the earth, but she made a wrong choice and was demoted to a mere woman.

Everyone since then had made wrong choices and suffered for it.

Jesus was anointed by God to be the Savior of the world. When he was tempted he always made the right choice—God said choose righteousness. At the appointed time God asked Jesus to suffer the consequences of mankind’s wrong choices—as a stand in for them—because he was the only one who could do the job. He was the only one who had walked the walk and talked the talk as God had instructed. He had to walk it out so that he fully qualified for all the promises of God. Since he was the only one who had remained sinless, he was the only one who could bare sins for other. Someone had to be our representative and take our consequences. Why? Because Adam and Eve’s choice sold mankind out and Jesus choice bought them back. Sin makes slaves of people and Jesus frees us from sin. But in order for people to remain free from becoming a slave to sin again, they must accept the Lordship of Jesus. He has already proved himself. He is the only one who can keep people free of sin.

Jesus made the right choice as always– he obeyed his Father—he became the sacrificial lamb. Now he can offer every person the opportunity to receive him as Savior and Lord.

As your Savior, his shed blood will wash away all your sins. As your Lord, he lives in your heart and you have eternal life.

That’s right, if you will make this very important right choice, to receive Jesus, you will be “born again” of the Spirit of God. That means you will be spiritually alive (God living in your spirit) just as Adam and Eve were be-fore the fall. This act of righteousness on Jesus’ part reconciles those who accept God’s plan of salvation, back to God Almighty as their very own Father. By choosing Jesus you will come into covenant with God. His part is to be your loving Father in every sense of the word and your part is to trust him and obey him.

As your Lord, Jesus will live and reign in your heart so that you can start over and make right choices. Choose Jesus and live!

Rom: 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

(How can one be transformed? By the renewing of your mind. This is very important. So many confessing Christians are not renewing their mind with the written Word of God which is to be quickened unto them by the Holy Spirit. (1Jn: 2:27-29) By neglecting this duty these confessing Christians are rocking the boat. They are the cause of disunity in the body and they are the cause of ineffectiveness of the body. I will show you what I mean.

The next five verses of Paul’s exhortation reveal definite attitudes that come from a right spirit and renewed mind that are a must for church unity.)

3-8: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 4: For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 6: Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7: Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8: Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

(Notice what Paul says here–there is more to Christ’s body than hands and feet.

These next verses tell the body of Christ how to love one another.)

9-16: Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

10: Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11: Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 12: Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 13: Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 14: Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 15: Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 16: Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

17-21: Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18: If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19: Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20: Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21: Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

(To have unity and love for one another we must be of the same mind–a renewed mind that is trained to take up the cross daily and follow Him.)

2Cor: 5:18-21 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The reconciliation is necessary because in the beginning Spirit-filled man chose to trust the liar and listen to him rather than God the Father. Thus mankind was separated from God. Sin drove a wedge between them. Distrust and therefore disobedience broke the fellowship of the Father with his son Adam and consequently the fellowship with mankind. Then Spirit-filled Jesus chose to listen to and trust God and he stood in the gap for all of mankind. Now through receiving him–choosing to listen to and trust God–one can be born again of the Spirit and be restored to a Father/child relationship with God.

Sin separated us from God, the atonement and God’s plan of salvation is for man’s benefit, not God’s. The word has spread about that God could not look on sin so he sent his Son to pay the price for sin so that he could accept us again. That is true in a sense but it is not the truth.

The truth is that it was all done for mankind, not for God. Mankind is the one who needed a powerful cleaning agent to deliver them from sin and guilt.

Mankind needed to be reinstated to his former glory—to be called a child of God.

Mankind needed to be delivered from the power of their carnal nature, because the carnal nature is at enmity with God and is a powerful influence causing wrong choices.

Mankind needed to be delivered from the power of the devil’s lies. God gives believers the Holy Spirit so that they do not have to heed the lie, but can combat it.

The alienation came when Adam and Eve made wrong choices. Deliverance, reconciliation, and salvation come by making a right choice–choosing Jesus. When one does that, God gives that person a new heart—a heart to please Him.

A person who has been reconciled to God becomes a child of God. This means a covenant relationship whereby the child trusts and obeys God and the Father takes good care of the child—providing, protecting, teaching, and loving it.

Acts: 2:38-39: Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39: For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Amp. V. says: Repent–change your views, and purposes to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it.)

This article is to show what true repentance is and what it will do.

Hos: 7:1-2: When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. 2: And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.

(Notice that God intended to and would have healed them, but sin interfered.)

Matt: 9:2: And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

Mk: 4:12: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. (When one has truly repented, it fixes this problem.)

(God wants people to know that He sees and takes into account their transgressions. Why? So that they can feel guilty and have torment? No. So that they will have an added incentive to follow the instruction book and put on the full armor of God.

Some will say: We were taught that God doesn’t remember our sins, past, present, or future. That is true for one group only–those who truly repented of sin and truly received Jesus Christ.)

1Tim: 5:24: Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

Heb: 10:26: For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

1Jn: 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Rev: 2:5: Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Dan: 9:5-13: We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7: O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8: O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9: To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10: Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11: Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12: And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13: As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

(Notice Vs 13, in order to understand God’s truth one must turn from sinful ways. True repentance prepares the way for the Lord. A right heart can receive truth.)

Repentance has been misunderstood. It has been preached and taught as if all that need be repented of is what humans call bad sins. But let’s look at what the Bible says:

Isa: 55:8-9: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Matt: 3:1-12: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

1Kings: 3:14: And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

1Kings: 11:33:Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

1Kings: 11:38: And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

Ps: 81:13: Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

This is what God wants:

Ps: 95:10:Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

Isa: 58:2: Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

Mal: 2:9:Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

Matt: 7:14: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matt: 21:32:For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: . . .

Matt: 22:16: And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.

Lk: 1:79: To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Lk: 3:5: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;

Jn 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 16:17: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

Acts: 2:28: Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

Acts: 14:15-17: And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

Acts: 18:25: This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

Acts: 26:20: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

Rom: 3:12: They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Heb 3:10: Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

2Pet: 2:15: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

2Pet: 2:21: For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

Rev: 15:3: And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

So God wants people to repent of doing things their way and to turn to Him and learn His ways. The things that Jesus taught are God’s Ways. If the people had this understanding the church would enjoy a far different outcome.

I heard a song that went: “Will you please hurry up, Lord cause I don’t think I can take this anymore.” It wasn’t sung with piety, it was belted out. It had a great beat to it and I liked it. But when I got to thinking about it, I knew that although most of us have felt that way at times and even said that to God, it is not the proper attitude.

Is piety toward God important?

Dan: 8:7-14: And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8: Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. 9: And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 10: And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. 11: Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12: And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. (Vs 12 in Amplified Bible says, And the host [the chosen people] was given [to the wicked horn] together with the continual burnt offering because of the transgression [of God's people--their abounding irreverence, ungodliness, and lack of piety]. And righteousness and truth were cast down to the ground, and it [the wicked horn] accomplished this [by divine permission] and prospered.) 13: Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? 14: And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Heb: 5:7: Amp. V: In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that which He not only wanted [b]but needed] and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, [c] in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father].

God has been hard on me and I believe that it is because I want to be free of all baggage and I want to be conformed into the image of His Son. When I say, hard on me, I mean that I have endured years and years of emotional suffering of which I thought He would quickly deliver me, but instead it was as in Isaiah 43:1-2: But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. 2: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

The biggest lesson I have learned from it all, beside patient endurance, is that God is God and the sooner a Christian realizes that God must call the shots and that He must be trusted, the better off they are going to be.

I do not believe that a Christian needs to crawl up to God’s throne and grovel for what they need and want. But I do believe in practicing great piety toward the heavenly Father. Piety means that we show Him all the respect and reverence that is due Him for who He is.

I am not objecting to the teaching of calling God, Daddy. We are, through Jesus, in a Father/child relationship with Him. We can take that to heart and feel loved and comfortable with Him. In fact, to truly know and enjoy the Father/child relationship with Him will do away with all that “I’m not worthy.” stuff and that “What did I do to deserve His love and forgiveness?” and so on. When you know that He loves you as His very own child, you do not question His benevolence toward you. It is called for and expected. Children don’t have to do anything to qualify for their parent’s love.

Getting back to my present point, though God is Daddy, He must have full control of your life. He will discipline His children. This means if you are in a position for Him to work in your life, He will let you go through some very hard things. If you continue in the faith, He will be with you and sometimes even carry you until due season for reaping. At that time, you will be ecstatic at the results that you will enjoy because you did it His way.

Heb: 12:5-14: And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7: If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8: But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9: Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10: For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11: Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 12: Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13: And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 14: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

All Christians need piety and reverence toward God the Father. It makes surrender and submission much easier and it brings the believer to a place where they can trust Him with everything because they know He loves them and they know that He is in charge. As one submits to His will and way, their reverence for Him and confidence in Him will grow. That’s where a person enters that spacious place spoken of in Job 36:16. All the assurances and promises in the word come to pass after the believer trusts and obeys Him.

I’m saying that once a Christian learns to revere God and His word, it becomes much easier to let Him be God in their entire life. When godly piety and reverence matures in the believer’s life they can truly say, “Your will be done” in extremely difficult times and remain in the Sabbath rest–waiting and expecting God to handle things. The believer’s job during that time is to do what Jesus would do in each situation that arises.

Most Christians seem to have the attitude of that song above–“Won’t you please hurry up, Lord, cause I just can’t take this anymore.” Many Christians have succumbed to doing things the world’s way because God didn’t hurry up and fix their problem. They never understood what I’m trying to get across here–that the Christian must make up their mind to do things God’s way no matter what. Never should they take things into their own hands. Why? Because of the great and precious promises.

2Pet: 1:3-13: According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5: And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6: And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7: And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8: For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9: But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10: Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 12: Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 13: Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

Gal: 6:9: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Eph: 3:16-20: That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17: That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18: May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19: And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

To summarize: If you remain in the carnal attitude that tries to tell God what to do and how to do it, you will eventually become disillusioned and faint. But if you will practice piety toward Him and submit to chastisement and allow Him to be God and Father in your life, you will reap an abundant harvest that will be far above what you can ask or think.

Again balance is what’s needed here. God is the loving Father and the Christian’s daddy, but He is also Almighty God and we should tremble at His word.

Isa: 66:1-2: Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2: For all those things hath mine hand made, and those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

The Word is balanced. In it you learn all about God’s love and benevolence and you learn that He expects to be revered and obeyed.

God says in Ex: 19:5-6: Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. After saying that, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

And in 1Pet: 2:7-9 it says: Unto you therefore which believe he (Jesus) is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

(In studying these two scriptures it becomes evident that Jesus made the way for us to be God’s peculiar people, who do his will. Below is how it works.)

Gal. 3: 18-27 says: For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

(So this tells us that the law was the trainer or guardian till Christ came and that now that we have faith in Jesus, we no longer need the trainer, for we have put on Christ. Does this mean that the law is irrelevant now or does it mean that we have grown up and the law and understanding has been instilled in us so that we do not need a written code or a taskmaster standing over us to make us obey?)

Jer: 31:31-34 says: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Rom: 8:3-8 says: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

(So here’s how it comes together–these scriptures are talking about the new heart God promised in the books of the prophets—the last portion of Vs: 5 in the Amp. V. reads: But those who are according to the Spirit and (controlled by the desires) of the Spirit, set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the (Holy) Spirit. This is the new heart God promised us.

Once we receive this new heart, we are reconciled to God and begin our Father/child love relationship with Him. We obey Him because our heart has been changed from one of selfishness and sinfulness to one of trustfulness and obedience. It becomes our desire upon receiving God’s salvation to live the reconciled to God life. We have been restored to the place we had before the fall and given everything needed to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. The key is to seek to gratify the Spirit and not your flesh. The flesh is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit.

This text in Rom: 8 implies that if you do not learn to walk by the spirit after you are born again, you will continue life no better than before, because the carnal mind cannot submit to God’s ways. The carnal person has never become convinced that their ways are death. The saying, “Everything that is fun is illegal, immoral, or fattening” is true for the carnal man–think about it! God’s laws and good governmental laws are for the good of the people, but carnal man does not like to obey them.

This is how you become one of God’s peculiar people–you receive a heart to please God and practice pleasing him–you no longer practice pleasing your carnal nature. You will be peculiar to the world, because they walk in death and you will be walking in life.

Psalm 145: I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

I use the above scripture to emphasize what I am about to say. The terrible Tsunami that occurred in January 2005 was not from God.

God is a good and loving God.

First I will tell you what this Tsunami means– It is a sign of what Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:6-8 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

In the Amplified Version of the Bible verse 8 it says; all this is but the beginning-the early pains of the birth pangs-of the intolerable anguish.

The intolerable anguish is the great tribulation that Jesus said would occur in the last days. Matthew 24:21-33– For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

The Tsunami that killed 160,000 people is a sign a warning that the terrible anguish is upon us.

Why did it happen and why is there going to be terrible anguish?

It happened because God’s protection was not there. His protection was not there because man has not understood Him or His message. Catastrophes are the inevitable result of mankind’s choices on this earth.

God’s desire is to be FATHER GOD to all. He created us to be His children. When He did that, He created us to need Him. NO ONE is complete without Him. There is no young child who can make it on his or her own. Young children need parental guidance, discipline and protection and provision. EVERYONE on this earth needs GOD THE FATHER in the same way. EVERYONE OF US is a little child in God’s sight. Why? Because He knows way more, He can do way more and He is way more than we are.

When a person choose to go their own way do their own thing it is an accurate comparison to a little child being completely on its own.

Here’s how it works: God provided life, light and love. We have the power to choose whether we will believe Him and receive Him and enter into the Father/child relationship that He offers. If we choose not to receive from Him, the result is that we are totally vulnerable to evil. (harm) If there was only good – God- then there would be no choice to make. But there is bad. If one does not listen to and agree with good teaching, then bad teaching influences their life. If a child does not listen to his or her parents, they must then listen to the politically correct, their teacher, their peers, the books they read, the TV they watch or some other source. Since mankind does not start out with knowledge, he or she much get it from some source. God has established that He is the source of good, the source of life, the source of hope, the source of light, the source of love, the source of Truth, the source of security, the source of safety, the source of continued health, and the source of prosperity.

God has also revealed that there is bad and that the father of bad is Satan/the devil/the liar. Jesus taught that if you don’t listen to God then you have to listen to the liar. The devil wants to be your god. He uses all media that is not from God to teach a person false knowledge. A person no matter how good he wants to be can only make choices based on what he knows. So a person can feel like they are good even though they haven’t received the author of good– God as their guide and influence. They can think their choices are smart and good, yet those choices can be very harmful. If their choices go against what God has taught, you can bank on it that they are harmful choices because what God wants is to be a good Father and have happy, healthy, profitable children. Everything He told mankind to do or not to do was to protect them from harm and use them to promote good.

Did innocent people die?

Yes. Why? Tsunamis are no respecter of persons– They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Did God protect anyone.

Yes. There are testimonies of a few who listened to him and survived.

Did some of His own children die in it? Yes. Because at that particular time they could not hear Him. In other words as an earthly father has to either be with the child or his teaching be with the child in order for him to protect the child, so it works with God as Father. If the child is not in a position to be protected and the place where the child is, is not under protection, then there is no protection.

Did His children who died in the Tsunami go to heaven even though they were not listening to Him? Yes, unless they were, by their own choices, completely estranged from Him as they were before they became His children.

Now if that little child on its own gets hit by a car or drowns in the river or is eaten by a lion, should we blame the parent who was not given opportunity to act as a parent? No. That is what happens in a disaster. Circumstances were such that God could not stop the calamity and still be operating within the boundaries He set up as good, wise, just and right.

The church learned, some time back, that we are saved by grace and not by works. This understanding has made a tremendous impact on today’s church. But there is more to it than that–there are conditions that go with grace and for good reason.

(Jude: 1:4: For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.)

In order to be reconciled to God a person must repent of their ways and turn to God’s ways, because Adam and Eve chose to do their own thing. Their choice was the initial big mistake that started all the suffering in the earth. Their choice separated mankind from the Father God. (Ps: 81:13, 95:10, Prov: 8:32, 23:26, Isa: 58:2, Mal: 2:9, Matt: 7:14, 21:32, 22:16, Acts: 14:15-17, 18:25)

Jesus came to fix what Adam and Eve ruined. Therefore He chose to obey God the Father. Jesus’ choices made a way for us to be reconciled to the Father God. Our choices either reconcile us to Father God or alienate us from Him.

If you receive Jesus into your heart, His blood will wash away your sins, past, present, and future. Grace is for those who want to be reconciled to Father God not to those who merely wish to escape hell after they have lived here by their own rules.

It is written: 1Jn: 5:11: that God gave us eternal life and this life is in His Son and Col: 1:27 says that Jesus in us is our hope of glory.

Rom: 8:1-14: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10: And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12: Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

It goes like this:

GRACE: unmerited love and favor with God was bought for the believer by Jesus Christ.

Eph: 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

His shed BLOOD washes away the believer’s sin.

Heb: 9:14: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb: 9:22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

FAITH in the finished work will give us the victory. Read all of Heb. 11.

Gal: 2:16: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Eph: 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Col: 1:21-23: And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22: In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

It is the WORD put to work in our lives that will save our soul.

Jas: 1:21-22: Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23: For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

To be ADOPTED back as a child of God a person must repent, that is turn from doing things their way and turn to doing things God’s way and they must choose Jesus as their Lord. You can choose the Adam way or the Jesus way. The Adam way leads to death. The Jesus way is eternal life.

2Cor: 5:19: To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Eph: 1:5: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

How it works:

Hear, Believe, Repent, Receive, Learn, Apply, Overcome

The objective of this article is to declare that you must have Jesus in your heart to be saved from hell and go to heaven. Your works or deeds will show whether you have Him in your heart or not.

Rom: 2:6-8: Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

Hi to all! This is my first blog. I want to start at the beginning–way back in the beginning–Gennesis 1. It is important to understand what took place in the Garden of Gethsema and in the Garden of Eden in order to understand what God has done for us and what He expects of us.

Adam and Eve had a major choice to make in the Garden of Eden. They could choose to obey God (hearken unto the Father) or they could hearken unto the liar (at that time in the form of a snake). The liar (devil, Satan) encouraged Eve to go ahead and do what she wanted to do, which was taste the forbidden fruit. He even went so far as to tell her that she would not die as God had said, but that she would be wise like God. She had a major choice to make. Would she choose righteousness or would she choose to do her own thing? She ate of the fruit. She offered Adam some of the fruit and he ate of the fruit.

They made one wrong choice and gave sin and death opportunity in the earth. Their one wrong choice caused their immediate spiritual death and eventually their physical death. Their one bad choice caused them to become subject to the liar, making him god of this world. Their one bad choice also gave pre-eminence to their lower nature (carnal nature, flesh) so that from that time on they would be strongly tempted to obey the desires of their mind and bodies rather than doing the right thing. Their choice was selfish and selfish choices have caused all the innocent bloodshed that has been shed in the world. History tells the bloody story of man’s struggle to save himself from tyranny, oppression, sickness, disease, assaults, greed, poverty, starvation, pestilence, loneliness, heartaches, and untimely deaths. There was no way or . . . was there?

There is one who is called The Way. Let me tell you what He did. He was born 4000 years after Adam and Eve. He was sent by God to fix all the damage caused by Adam and Eve’s bad choice. His name is Jesus and He was born of a virgin and born of God so that He could be born flesh and blood, yet be spiritually alive as Adam and Eve were before the fall. Being flesh and blood, He was tempted like we are. He lived His life here cleaving to God and resisting evil–just as God has told us to do. He lived His life loving God with all His heart, mind, soul, and strength–just as we are told to do. He lived His life on earth walking by the spirit–not by His carnal desires–once we are born again; we are mandated to walk by the spirit–where God lives–and not by our carnal desires. He lived His life here believing, trusting, and obeying God–just as we are told to do. His life is a picture of what God is creating and what God expects of His sons. He walked the walk and talked the talk.

Once Jesus had ruled over His carnal nature and walked it out, He was in a position to do something about eternal death. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the second Adam met His waterloo. It was the same scenario as Adam and Eve in the other garden. He sweated like great drops of blood as He resisted the liar (tempter) who was trying to get Him to choose His lower nature. The liar tried to tell Him that surely His loving Father would not require this of Him. But He prayed for God’s will to be done and not His will. He made the right choice. He chose to believe God and not the liar. He chose righteousness and agape love over self. He chose to shed His innocent blood for the world making complete atonement for Adam and Eve’s wrong choice. He chose to die so that we can live. He gave His spiritual nature pre-eminence over His carnal nature. In making these right choices He took the kingdom back from Satan and paid the price so that we can be saved from the penalty of sin and be given spiritual life again.

Now we have a choice to make–we can choose to follow Adam, but if we do, we will surely die just as he did. Or we can choose to follow Jesus, be born again of the Spirit of God and learn to walk by the spirit and not by the flesh and be sons of the living God.